Superconductor-Ferromagnet Tunnel Junction Thermoelectric Bolometer and Calorimeter with a SQUID Readout

Abstract

The superconductor-ferromagnet thermoelectric detector (SFTED) is a novel ultrasensitive radiation detector based on the giant thermoelectric effect in superconductor-ferromagnet tunnel junctions. This type of detector can be operated without the need of additional bias lines and is predicted to provide a performance rivaling transition-edge sensors and kinetic inductance detectors. Here, we report our numerical studies on the SFTED noise equivalent power, energy resolution and time constant, and the feasibility of a SQUID readout in both bolometric and calorimetric regimes, with the goal to provide practical design parameters for the detector fabrication and the readout circuitry implementation.